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[Draugoth]

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Summary​

• Xbox Games Showcase offered a new glimpse of Avowed with the first gameplay trailer.
• Meet Kai, the first of a cast of companions who will accompany you through the Living Lands.
• Learn about how Obsidian has created an all-new first-person combat system – play your way with a combination of swords, pistols, magic, and more.
• Learn about the weird and wonderful Living Lands, a new setting in Obsidian’s world of Eora, familiar to fans of the Pillars of Eternity series.
• The game will be around the same scope as Knights of the Old Republic/The Outer Worldds.

We at Obsidian Entertainment know players have been anticipating an updated look at Avowed and we’re excited to show off what we’ve been working on with a first-ever gameplay trailer today at Xbox Games Showcase 2023.

Expanding the universe that we created for the original Pillars of Eternity games, Avowed brings a new perspective, a new way to fight, and a new land to explore in the world of Eora. The Pillars games are near and dear to us and we can’t wait to share Avowed with everyone next year.

In Avowed, you’ll explore the Living Lands, a plagued, wild island set in the world of Eora. The Living Lands are full of mysteries and secrets, danger and adventure, and choice and consequences.

Unique to the world of Eora, the Living Lands is home to bustling port towns and rolling hills adorned with weird and fantastical plant life. Every part of the Living Lands is home to its own ecosystem. Around every corner there are creatures, sentient mushrooms, or tribes of lizard-like Xaurips looking to make you their next meal…

As with all our past RPGs, the companions in Avowed play a major role in your adventure. The first companion you will find is Kai, the narrator of this gameplay trailer. Kai is a Coastal Aumaua currently residing in the Living Lands and is one of the only friendly faces you’ll find here. He is a former soldier, and his idealistic and pragmatic temperament will help guide you as you venture out into this wild frontier.

First-person combat has been a huge focus for us. We’ve incorporated a host of ways for players to fight the flora and fauna of the Living Lands. You will have swords, shields, pistols, magical spells, and more at your disposal, including the ability to dual wield, creating a vast number of combinations to choose from.

With combat so full of possibility, diversity in choice will be needed as you explore the treacherous Living Lands. Home to the Xuarips, plagued undead, and dangerous flora, this island is full of unique enemies to encounter. 

We’re looking forward to sharing much, much more with everyone as we get closer to the release of Avowed next year.

Avowed will be released in 2024 on Xbox Series X|S, Windows 10/11, and S

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Exclusive: Obsidian breaks 3-year silence to spill the secrets of Avowed, its next big RPG

Obsidian spills the first details on combat, magic, character-building, and how important companions are to the story.

www.pcgamer.com

Avowed seems that it will be similar in size and scope to The Outer Worlds

CEO Feargus Urquhart told me that in scope Avowed is more akin to Obsidian's past RPGs like The Outer Worlds in size than it is a sprawling open world a la Skyrim, though that was actually Obsidian's initial pitch. When the developers sat down and focused on what Obsidian does best—stories and companions, in particular—the more compact scale came naturally

 

[adamsapple]

 

[LordCBH]

It’s ugly. But I fucking trust obsidian for RPG’s. So I can forgive the ugly easy.

 

[cireza]

Looking forward to the game. My only issue here is the art direction, not a fan of rainbows everywhere at all. But casting fireballs barehanded in first person is going to be awesome.

 

[U n i o n 0015]

Those screenshots look better than the actual trailer. Now I don't know what to believe...

 

[analog_future]

Those screenshots look better than the actual trailer. Now I don't know what to believe...

I think the game just has some janky animations and some odd lighting/lack of ambient occlusion here and there, so right now it looks better in static screenshots vs in motion.

Hopefully they'll clean up some of this by the time the game launches.

 

[Leo9]

I'm fine with a smaller scope, but that art style is really disappointing.

 

[SEGAvangelist]

Smaller scope is music to my ears. We have BGS for the mammoth games.

 

[Robb]

Surprised to hear it’s not open world.

I enjoyed The Outer Worlds a lot though so I’m definitely looking forward to this. Dual pistols look fun.

 

[SEGAvangelist]

Surprised to hear it’s not open world.

I enjoyed The Outer Worlds a lot though so I’m definitely looking forward to this. Dual pistols look fun.

I have a theory. I bet this game was scoped down for a smaller team once the Bethesda deal happened. Why make Obsidian Elder Scrolls when you have BGS working on it after Starfield? They are better off working on New Vegas 2 if you want them on a huge RPG.

 

[Batiman]

This is gonna be great. Not the best looking game or the biggest scope but just the perfect size. Outer worlds was perfect

 

[reksveks]

I have a theory. I bet this game was scoped down for a smaller team once the Bethesda deal happened. Why make Obsidian Elder Scrolls when you have BGS working on it after Starfield? They are better off working on New Vegas 2 if you want them on a huge RPG.

I have a similar feeling as well.

 

[Kurotri]

I have a theory. I bet this game was scoped down for a smaller team once the Bethesda deal happened. Why make Obsidian Elder Scrolls when you have BGS working on it after Starfield? They are better off working on New Vegas 2 if you want them on a huge RPG.

That's some bigbrain stuff there. Hope you are right, because otherwise we are in for a ridiculous wait for another Fallout. I'll be fucking bald by then.

 

[AJUMP23]

• The game will be around the same scope as Knights of the Old Republic/The Outer Worldds.

Music to my ears.

 

[digoutyoursoul]

I'm fine with a smaller scope, but that art style is really disappointing.

It looks like a last generation game imo . I know visuals are not everything, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to hope to see better than this tho.

 

[Irobot82]

I have a theory. I bet this game was scoped down for a smaller team once the Bethesda deal happened. Why make Obsidian Elder Scrolls when you have BGS working on it after Starfield? They are better off working on New Vegas 2 if you want them on a huge RPG.

There's an article somewhere that talks nearly about that.

Originally they said this would be their Skyrim, but further in they asked are we good at that? We are better at characters and story, so they narrowed down their focus more.

 

[SmokedMeat]

I’m totally fine with it being around the size of Outer Worlds.

 

[darrylgorn]

Wayyyyyyy more excited for this than the space thing.

 

[DarthPutin]

I think even in quality screenshot this draconid or whatever thing looks like crap, very basic and unimaginative. I rewatched the trailer trying to get myself hyped, but just ended up even more dissapointed. Too bad, since on paper I like everything they say about the game.

They could do something like that Midnight thing, which probably won't look nexgen either, but has (at least in trailer) interesting quirky artstyle, instead of super generic "download Fantasy Setting A-1".

Wish we could swap this and Fable timeline wise.

 

[Umbasaborne]

Smaller=better. It means the game can likely be made in a more reasonable amount of time. Id also say insomniacs games are relatively small scale. Manhattan in spiderman and mm is not the biggest open world ever, and the planets in ratchet were pretty small too. Give me a small but dense game with triple a production values that can be made in 3 years vs a massive but shallow open world that takes 6 plus years to make

 

[T4keD0wN]

So it will take place just in the Living Lands?

Would be a shame to not revisit old places. Neketaka and many other in 3d would be amazing.

 

[Mister Wolf]

Those screenshots look better than the actual trailer. Now I don't know what to believe...

They need time to polish.

 

[DeceptiveAlarm]

That's some bigbrain stuff there. Hope you are right, because otherwise we are in for a ridiculous wait for another Fallout. I'll be fucking bald by then.

Fuck we might all be dead. Bald is best case scenario.

 

[Ronin_7]

It’s ugly. But I fucking trust obsidian for RPG’s. So I can forgive the ugly easy.

It's ugly af but maybe great

 

[cripterion]

Didn't like Outer Worlds and the trailer looked like ass so I'm skeptical...

 

[Superkewl]

I have to say, I am feeling better about this game since today's extended showcase

 

[MidGenRefresh]

I don't care about graphics that much but the art design is just God awful.

 

[Laptop1991]

I really like The Outer Worlds and Obsidian's character's, humour and stories, but i have to admit the trailer left me a bit concerned, it didn't look good and it doesn't have to look great for Obsidian games to be good, and if it's scaled down, how much by and what type of game is it!, i'm on the fence now, that wasn't a good trailer for me.

 

[Bumblebeetuna]

Same scope as Outer Worlds is great. That game seemed like just about the perfect length.

 

[93xfan]

This is gonna be great. Not the best looking game or the biggest scope but just the perfect size. Outer worlds was perfect

Careful. You realize this draws angry Sony zealots who are searching words like “(insert Xbox exclusive)”+”best”+”great”+”perfect”.

What have you done?!?!

 

[Mr Hyde]

Just watched the deep dive. It looks great. I thought the reveal trailer was a bit underwhelming but this deep dive is much more favorable. And dual wielding pistols in a fantasy game?

 

[Darkmakaimura]

I think the game looks fantastic. It might not look like a next-gen video game but I still like the colorful graphics. It looks more colorful than the Pillars of Eternity games.

 

[simpatico]

It's not the tech that makes it ugly for me. It's modern enough, but the colorblast art direction makes some areas and spells look like random Steam MMORPG #24134

I really think you could recolor and relight everything I've seen and make me absolutely love it. If this turns out typical Obsidian quality it's going to be very frustrating, but I'll try it out just on the provenance.

 

[fermcr]

Said it before, I like what I saw about this game.
Obsidian are great storytellers.

 

[Topher]

Surprised to hear it’s not open world.

Eh....that kind of kills the hype for me, but we will see.

 

[The Tourmaline Gorilla]

I have a theory. I bet this game was scoped down for a smaller team once the Bethesda deal happened. Why make Obsidian Elder Scrolls when you have BGS working on it after Starfield? They are better off working on New Vegas 2 if you want them on a huge RPG.

This makes sense. Good point and observation.

As it regards the pictures, they look miles better than the footage we got at the showcase. Hopefully the game looks much closer to those pics than what we saw at the showcase. Some of those shots are sheer beauty!

 

[Joey.]

I’m working through The Outer Worlds right now and absolutely loving it. I really like the art style and scope.

Avowed’s art style was not what I was expecting but it looks Outer Worlds-esque and I’m totally ok with that. Im also very ok with having a similiar scope.

Perfect size for me. Leave the massive open world RPG with more realistic graphics to Starfield and Elder Scrolls.

Love it.

 

[Fuz]

Surprised to hear it’s not open world.

Aaaaaand it's dead.

 

[StereoVsn]

Outer Worlds was mediocre. Scope was too small and the game was boring. I am disappointed that this is what they are aiming for. They straws with pitching Skyrim but better.

 

[Robb]

Eh....that kind of kills the hype for me, but we will see.

I don’t really care too much about that specifically. But the latest trailer kind of killed my hype as well. It pretty much went from a game I was excited for to ‘it’ll be on GamePass so I guess I’ll try it out’.

 

[Topher]

I don’t really care too much about that specifically. But the latest trailer kind of killed my hype as well. It pretty much went from a game I was excited for to ‘it’ll be on GamePass so I guess I’ll try it out’.

I’ll try it out but my expectations are really low now. Then again, I’ve never had a very high opinion of Obsidian. I’ll be happy if they prove me wrong

 

[darrylgorn]

Wait, it's not open world?

In that case, count me in! Been addicted to System Shock and really enjoying the nod to more traditional experiences these days.

 

[Arsic]

It’s not pillars 3 but it’ll do.

 

[Torrent of Pork]

I'm not going to lie, I was kind of hoping for Obsidian's take on a BGS style open world RPG, but I quite enjoyed The Outer Worlds as well. I'm in Day 1.

 

[DavidGzz]

Weird that so many want open world or bust now when I want From Software to go back to Dark Souls style worlds. I know this isn't From Software but I still prefer a more focused adventure. Those are the best. I'd take Demon's Souls even over Skyrim, for example. But I guess that's just me. I'm expecting the upcoming Lords of The Fallen to also be focused and not open world.

 

[vaibhavpisal]

Game needs some polish in visuals department. Outer Worlds had a very cool art style.

But it's at least a year away so they have time. I am confident it will look pretty good come release.

TBH was expecting a more ambitious title as they are with MS now. I guess they are working on multiple projects and releasing them pretty fast so that took a toll.

Either ways, day 1. Obsidian is one of my favs.

Weird that so many want open world or bust now when I want From Software to go back to Dark Souls style worlds. I know this isn't From Software but I still prefer a more focused adventure. Those are the best. I'd take Demon's Souls even over Skyrim, for example. But I guess that's just me. I'm expecting the upcoming Lords of The Fallen to also be focused and not open world.

This is not open world.

 

[DavidGzz]

This is not open world.

I know, I'm talking about the people complaining that it isn't.

 

[ZehDon]

I know, I'm talking about the people complaining that it isn't.

Most of the complaints are stemming from the fact it was revealed as "Obsidian's Skyrim". Then, they changed direction, and scoped the entire project down. That's fine - they're free to make whatever they want - but those of us who were excited for "Obsidian's Skyrim" are disappointed we won't be getting it. "The Outer Pillars" isn't intriguing to me, because I found The Outer Worlds far too limited for the game it was trying to be.

 

[DavidGzz]

Most of the complaints are stemming from the fact it was revealed as "Obsidian's Skyrim". Then, they changed direction, and scoped the entire project down. That's fine - they're free to make whatever they want - but those of us who were excited for "Obsidian's Skyrim" are disappointed we won't be getting it. "The Outer Pillars" isn't intriguing to me, because I found The Outer Worlds far too limited for the game it was trying to be.

Ah, I didn't know we had much more than the short teaser trailer from a while back. Didn't see where they spoke of what it was trying to be.